sideload

3 Articles

The Browser Wasn’t Enough, Google Wants To Control All Your Software

August 28, 2025 by 158 Comments

A few days ago we brought you word that Google was looking to crack down on “sideloaded” Android applications. That is, software packages installed from outside of the mobile operating system’s official repository. Unsurprisingly, a number of readers were outraged at the proposed changes. Android’s open nature, at least in comparison to other mobile operating systems, is what attracted many users to it in the first place. Seeing the platform slowly move towards its own walled garden approach is concerning, especially as it leaves the fate of popular services such as the F-Droid free and open source software (FOSS) repository in question.

But for those who’ve been keeping and eye out for such things, this latest move by Google to throw their weight around isn’t exactly unexpected. They had the goodwill of the community when they decided to develop an open source browser engine to keep the likes of Microsoft from taking over the Internet and dictating the rules, but now Google has arguably become exactly what they once set out to destroy.

Today they essentially control the Internet, at least as the average person sees it, they control 72% of the mobile phone OS market, and now they want to firm up their already outsized control which apps get installed on your phone. The only question is whether or not we let them get away with it.

Continue reading “The Browser Wasn’t Enough, Google Wants To Control All Your Software” →

Google Will Require Developer Verification Even For Sideloading

August 26, 2025 by 114 Comments

Do you like writing software for Android, perhaps even sideload the occasional APK onto your Android device? In that case some big changes are heading your way, with Google announcing that they will soon require developer verification for all applications installed on certified Android devices – meaning basically every mainstream device. Those of us who have distributed Android apps via the Google app store will have noticed this change already, with developer verification in the form of sending in a scan of your government ID now mandatory, along with providing your contact information.

What this latest change thus effectively seems to imply is that workarounds like sideloading or using alternative app stores, like F-Droid, will no longer suffice to escape these verification demands. According to the Google blog post, these changes will be trialed starting in October of 2025, with developer verification becoming ‘available’ to all developers in March of 2026, followed by Google-blessed Android devices in Brazil, Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore becoming the first to require this verification starting in September of 2026.

Google expects that this system will be rolled out globally starting in 2027, meaning that every Google-blessed Android device will maintain a whitelist of ‘verified developers’, not unlike the locked-down Apple mobile ecosystem. Although Google’s claim is that this is for ‘security’, it does not prevent the regular practice of scammers buying up existing – verified – developer accounts, nor does it harden Android against unscrupulous apps. More likely is that this will wipe out Android as an actual alternative to Apple’s mobile OS offerings, especially for the hobbyist and open source developer.

Finally Run Useful Apps On A Windows Phone

September 26, 2019 by 30 Comments

Not every piece of technology or software can succeed, even with virtually unlimited funding and marketing. About the same number of people are still playing Virtual Boys as are using Google Plus, for example. In recent memory, the Windows Phone occupies the same space as these infamous failures, potentially because it was late to the smartphone game but primarily because no one wanted to develop software for it. But now, you can run Android apps on Windows Phones now. (Google Translate from German)

To be clear, this doesn’t support all Android apps or all Windows Phones, and it will take a little bit of work to get it set up at all. But if you still have one laying around you might want to go grab it. First you’ll need to unlock the phone, and then begin sending a long string of commands to the device which sends the required software to the device. If that works, you can begin loading Android apps on the phone via a USB connection to a PC.

This hack came to us via Windows Central and Reddit. It seems long and involved but if you have any experience with a command line you should be fine. It’s an interesting way to get some more use out of your old Windows Phone if it’s just gathering dust in a closet somewhere. If not, don’t worry; Windows Phones were rare even when they were at their most popular. We could only find one project in our archives that uses one, and that was from 2013.